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Two thoughts why it’s hard, at times, to create.
I’m not a scientist. I haven’t done any studies. This is just me and my thoughts.
1. Fear
We’re afraid. Afraid of the outcome. Afraid of failure. Afraid of criticism. It immobilizes you, prevents you from taking the next step, paralyzes you.
If fear is present, most, if not all, creativity goes out the window.
2. Pain vs. Pleasure
Tony Robbins talks about this a lot, but I’m sure there were plenty before him that talked about this principle. Heck, you can go back to 580 BC in The Book of Mormon (a historical record written by prophets here in America) and read about the need to have opposition in all things.
The principle is this: whichever emotion is stronger wins out. Given the task of creating, in that moment what emotion do you feel? Pleasure, from being able to do something you love, or thinking about the people who will read/watch/listen to/consume your art? Or pain – related to fear – thoughts of how hard it will be to create this thing, how much you have to do, how you’d rather be doing something else?
Whichever one is dominant, wins.
Two Quick Solutions
- Watch this recent TED talk, given by Tim Ferriss on what he’s dubbed “fear setting”, which essentially means writing down, in detail, the worst that could happen. Broaden your perspective and use it to eliminate the fear.
- Prepare yourself. If you know you need/want to create, don’t just sit down and fight the opposition, the resistance, in front of you. Have a morning routine, or a journaling practice, or meditate, or exercise, or do SOMETHING to get into the right state, the right frame of mind, so that pleasure wins out. So that you’re thinking about all of the good things that come from creating something.